Trees – The National Wildlife Federation Bloghttp://blog.nwf.org
The National Wildlife Federation's blogThu, 17 Aug 2017 19:08:14 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8Trees for Wildlife – The Gift that Keeps Givinghttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/trees-for-wildlife-the-gift-that-keeps-giving/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/trees-for-wildlife-the-gift-that-keeps-giving/#respondTue, 29 Nov 2016 16:14:56 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=124870This Giving Tuesday, for every $10 that you donate to protect wildlife across the country, one native tree will be planted. You have the opportunity to join us in the fight to protect wildlife, while also directly providing wildlife with food, water, and shelter for years to come.

How could wildlife use the incredible gift of trees? Here are a few examples.

Millions of wild animals rely on trees every day, to provide food, water, shelter, and a place to raise young. Provide for wildlife for years to come – donate today and for every $10 you donate to the National Wildlife Federation, a tree will be planted.

Give wildlife the gift that keeps on giving for years to come.

Give Trees Now
]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/trees-for-wildlife-the-gift-that-keeps-giving/feed/0Meet the Treeshttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/meet-the-trees/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/meet-the-trees/#respondSat, 26 Nov 2016 13:00:20 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=124635Trees are an investment — in wildlife, in people, in the future of our planet. For wildlife, they can provide food, water, cover, and places to raise young. For people, they reduce stress, lower energy costs, and provide shady, recreation spots. And for our planet, they prevent erosion, reduce CO2, and clean the air.

For this year’s Giving Tuesday celebration, we’re showing our appreciation for trees with a big goal: planting 5,000 trees for wildlife. To get in the spirit, we’ve given nicknames to a few of the most unique trees in the U.S. that remind us of how many benefits trees provide.

The Provider – Northern Red Oak (Quercus rubra)

Northern Red Oak – photo courtesy of John Picken via Flickr

Naturalist Joseph S. Illick called this tree “one of the handsomest, cleanest, and stateliest trees in North America.” This tree has it all. It is fast growing, yet strong. It thrives in urban and rural areas across the country. It provides brilliant fall colors and produces acorns and other food for wildlife. Plus, it even has a wide crown you can walk or dine under. You’ll spot it by its 4-8″ long leaves and pale yellow-green catkins that appear between April and May.

The Tough Guy – Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva)

Bristlecone Pine – photo courtesy of Rick Goldwaser via Flickr

Found in Utah, Nevada and California, these trees are known for their longevity and ability to survive some pretty adverse growing conditions. Unless you like to spend time in high elevations with cold temperatures and high winds, you’re unlikely to spot one of these hearty pines. The bristlecone pine is also the longest-living tree on the planet, some dating back more than 5,000 years! You’ll know it by its massive trunk and twisted, gnarled shape.

The Class Clown – Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia)

Joshua Tree – photo courtesy of the National Park Service

These trees sure have a unique look — like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. Native Americans called the trees “humwichawa” and used the leaves for baskets and the buds and seeds for food. Wildlife don’t seem to mind their funny appearance. Joshua trees provide habitat for many birds, mammals, insects and lizards. Head out to the Mojave Desert or Joshua Tree National Park to walk through this abstract landscape.

The Inspiration – Survivors’ Tree

Survivors Tree – photo courtesy of 911 Memorial Museum

The species may not be native to the U.S., but one particular Callery pear tree (Pyrus calleryana) has captured our hearts and expresses the deeper meaning that trees can have for all of us.

This particular tree was discovered at Ground Zero, severely damaged, but still alive, and given to NYC Parks and Recreation for care and rehabilitation. In 2010, it was returned to the 9/11 Memorial site. According to the Memorial’s website, “New, smooth limbs extended from the gnarled stumps, creating a visible demarcation between the tree’s past and present. Today, the tree stands as a living reminder of resilience, survival and rebirth.” Learn more about this tree and where you can visit.

The Game Changer – The One You Plant

Tree planting event at Powell GT School via Flickr

A tree doesn’t have to be famous to make a difference. Trees of all shapes and sizes help provide for wildlife and absorb CO2. One of the least expensive and easiest ways each of us can make a difference for our planet is to plant a native tree that will provide for wildlife and people in the community.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/meet-the-trees/feed/0Top Pop Culture Treeshttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/top-pop-culture-trees/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/top-pop-culture-trees/#respondTue, 15 Nov 2016 17:12:15 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=124351This upcoming Giving Tuesday, you can help wildlife in a unique way: for every $10 you donate to the National Wildlife Federation, we’ll plant a native tree to benefit wildlife. Trees provide us and wildlife with some pretty amazing benefits, and pop culture has taken note of this and created some memorable tree characters that bring these benefits to life. In honor of our upcoming celebration of trees, I’ve rated a few of my favorite trees from books and movies:

The Whomping Willow

Image courtesy of Warner Bros.

This giant, magical willow tree resides in the magical world of Harry Potter. Despite being a danger to anyone who approaches it, the whomping willow provides a safe escape for a transforming werewolf, and protects others from accidentally running into him.

Rating: I give it an 8/10 for its protective instincts (losing 2 points for mangling the Ford Anglia).

Groot

Image courtesy of Marvel Studios

Groot is a living, walking, talking tree who is member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, of both comic book and movie fame. Despite being a one-liner (“I am Groot.”), Groot provides strength, support, and protection for his teammates.

Rating: I give him a 10/10 for regrowth capabilities.

The Ents

Image courtesy of New Line Cinema

While not officially trees, the Ents from Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings are a group of tree-like beings that prove to be great allies of the people of Middle-earth. Closely resembling the trees they protect, their strength and fortitude keeps the forests (and their hobbit friends) safe from threats of Sauron.

Rating: They get a 7/10 for their quiet and resilient strength.

Tree of Souls

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox

While many trees take on an important role in the film Avatar, the Tree of Souls is our favorite since it is the closest connection between the Na’vi, their deity Eywa, and their deceased. Through a neural connection, the Na’vi are able to connect with their deceased ancestors for guidance.

Rating: I give it a 14/10 for impressive beyond-tree-like abilities.

The Truffula Trees

Image from “The Lorax”

Immortalized in The Lorax by Dr. Suess, the story of the truffula trees symbolizes humans’ desire to use the natural world for our benefit, without considering the reverberating repercussions. After exhausting the forest of truffula trees, the Once-ler comes to realize that unless someone cares a great deal, the situation will never improve.

Rating: 11/10 for tugging at our heartstrings (and inspiring some of us to work in conservation).

The Apple Tree Orchard

Image courtesy of MGM Studios

Not all trees are nice. In The Wizard of Oz, the apple tree orchard comes to life after Dorothy attempts to pluck an apple. The trees gang up on her, Scarecrow, and the Tin Man, teaching them that not everything is as it seems in the land of Oz, but also to ask for things instead of taking them.

Rating: 7/10 for scaring children into politeness.

The Giving Tree

Image from “The Giving Tree”

The Giving Tree tops my list of treasured childhood books. It taught us about giving, kindness, and growing older. The tree loved to give, and the boy loved to take. It reminds us of how much we’ve taken from trees, and how much we should give back.

Rating: The Giving Tree goes beyond the ranking scale, and deserves 20/10 for selflessness and an impactful message.

These fictional trees have given us so much – give back to the real trees we’ve taken so much from by donating to our Giving Tuesday campaign. One tree will be planted for every $10 you donate.

Give Trees Now
]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2016/11/top-pop-culture-trees/feed/0A Wild Guidehttp://blog.nwf.org/2016/05/this-week-in-nwf-history-a-wild-guide/
http://blog.nwf.org/2016/05/this-week-in-nwf-history-a-wild-guide/#respondMon, 09 May 2016 12:00:46 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=119414Since 1936, the National Wildlife Federation has worked to conserve the nation’s wildlife and wild places. As part of our 80th anniversary celebration, we are recognizing important moments in our history that continue to make an impact today.

Birds like golden eagles use trees for nesting. Photo by Cathy Nowak, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

As friends of wildlife know, there are countless studies that have documented the benefits that trees provide for people, communities, and wildlife. As part of our mission to protect wildlife through educating the public, we have published numerous field guides, including a trio books in 2007 about native trees, birds, and insects.

People who have a passion for finding, identifying, and saving flora and fauna in their neighborhoods or on adventures across the country can use these guides as a tool to discover the fascinating inner workings of the wildlife and habitat around them.

Eastern white pine

Eastern white pine. Photo by USFWS

The eastern United States’ tallest tree, this pine, the “monarch of the eastern forest,” ranges from Maine to North Carolina. These large evergreen trees are the only five-needled native eastern pine, and the long, narrow cones are distinctive in the area. Wildlife that are supported by the eastern white pine include white-tailed deer and eastern cottontails.

Many recognizable bird species use this tree for seeds or nesting grounds, including black-capped chickadees, pine warblers, bald eagles, pileated woodpeckers, and ruby-throated hummingbirds. An array of insects also use this tree for food or shelter, including white pine tubemakers, pine tube moths, and pine powder moths.

Bald cypress

Bald cypress can be identified by their “knees”. Photo by Ned Trovillion, USFWS

This large deciduous tree in the southeast grows in or near bodies of water. Boasting the largest trunk diameter of all eastern trees, the bald cypress is also the longest-living tree of the East. It is the state tree of Louisiana, and can be found in the Mississippi Valley drainage basin, the Gulf Coast, and up the east coast to Virginia. Bald cypress swamps offer breeding grounds for frogs, toads, and salamanders.

Like other trees, it provides food and nesting grounds for many bird species, such as wood ducks, mallards, wild turkeys, ospreys, barred owls, and various herons, and insects such as cypress leaf beetles, fall webworms, and bald cypress sphinxes.

Sandbar willow

Sandbar willow. Photo by USDA

Found in sandbars as its name suggests, this shrub ranges throughout the west. It is a key riparian plant in some states and is the only known home of the northern Arizona leaf beetles. The tree has narrow leaves and produces flowers which are pollinated primarily by bees and flies, though it also attracts long-horned beetles, mourning cloak butterfly caterpillars, and white admiral butterfly caterpillars. It is drought-resistant and is also often found in mud flats and in floodplains.

Birds you may find using this tree for seeds or nesting grounds include mallards, northern pintails, ruffed grouses, white-crowned sparrows, and yellow warblers.

Oregon white oak

Oregon white oak. Photo by Hugh Snook, BLM

This deciduous tree has one of the most northerly ranges of North American oaks and is the Northwest’s only native oak. It is one of only four deciduous oaks native to the West Coast, with a range from Canada to California. Like other oak trees, it produces large acorns in the fall and flowers in the spring, and when its leaves have fallen, it takes on a gray appearance when lichen epiphytes are visible. This tree provides food and habitat for a variety of wildlife such as squirrels, deer, and bats.

Small insects like filbertworms, western oak loopers, and western tent caterpillars take food and shelter from this tree, and bird species including woodpeckers, wood ducks, and western bluebirds use it for seeds and nesting.

Living trees are an important food source for wildlife. They provide cover for resting, getting out of the bad weather, and hiding from predators. Many wildlife species use trees as places to nest, lay eggs and raise their young.

Standing dead and dying trees, called snags, are also used for nests, storage, foraging and perching. Even decaying trees serve a purpose – as hiding places, ground cover and to provide nutrients to the soil for seedlings.

Feeding on Leaves of Wild Cherry, Ash, Poplars: Tiger Swallowtail

Not all butterflies depend on wildflowers and shrubs. The magnificent tiger swallowtail butterfly often begins life as an egg laid on the leaf of a native tree, and uses trees throughout its lifecycle.

Living Mostly In and Between Trees: Flying Squirrels

Eastern flying squirrel. Photo by Hazel Galloway.

Flying squirrels rarely touch the ground. They glide effortlessly between trees in a forest and make their homes in snags, woodpecker holes, nest boxes and abandoned nests of birds and other squirrels.

Feasting on Caterpillars: Breeding Birds

Contrary to what many people believe, songbirds do not rely on just berries and seeds for food. Ninety-six percent of terrestrial birds rear their young on protein-rich insects. Caterpillars are a particularly important food for breeding birds – and most caterpillars are found on trees. The many species of oak collectively host 532 species of caterpillars!

Habitat Protected and Enriched: Frogs and Fish

Every part of a tree participates in enriching a stream for aquatic life. Streamside trees shade streams, keeping developing eggs cool. Falling leaves provide food and shelter for aquatic insects, which become a food source. Roots from trees such as sycamore stabilize stream banks to slow erosion. Fallen trees create pools that provide a rest away from strong currents.

Staying Safe at Night: Arboreal Salamanders

Photo by Sally Farallon, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

With their large toes and prehensile tail, arboreal salamanders can climb a tree up to 60 feet above the ground. They find food on the forest floor at night, and retreat to tree cavities in the summer to wait out dry weather.

Deadwood for Life: Raccoons

Birds, bats, squirrels and raccoons make nests in hollow cavities and crevices. Deadwood is like a gourmet restaurant for wildlife, attracting insects, mosses, lichens and fungi. And decaying logs on the forest floor act as “nurse logs” for new seedlings.

Living in the Crevices of Loose Bark: Bats

A brown bat roosting on a tree trunk. Photo by Mark Graham, National Park Service.

Endangered Indiana bats, along with many other species of bats, roost and raise their young under the loose bark of living trees as well as dead or dying trees.

Students learning about local flora and fauna. Photo by Danielle Trevino

Students assembled listening to instructions about planting trees. Photo by Danielle Trevino

I have worked with the Alabama Wildlife Federation, a National Wildlife Federation affiliate, for almost eight years as an educator, focusing mainly on educating Alabama’s youth and public about conservation of our natural resources.

The Alabama Wildlife Federation is always looking for ways to teach kids about the environment, so we were thrilled to receive free native tree seedlings from the National Wildlife Federation this past spring. These seedlings enabled us to share the great outdoors with school children and their families in our area.

Engaging kids to teach them about the environment. Photo by Danielle Trevino

Almost 600 students from Prattville Elementary School, Prattville Christian Academy, and the Alabama Nature Center’s Expedition Lanark Outdoor Day camp chose between a flowering dogwood and an American sycamore to take home and plant in their yards!

Most of the youth involved are in fourth grade or lower, and each shared with me their ideas for where their tree would be planted and how they would take care of it.

One of my primary responsibilities as a conservation educator is to instill a sense of care and responsibility in the students we teach. With programs like NWF’s that sponsor trees for wildlife, educators are equipped to do just that. With the right tools to teach today’s youth about our environment and how to care for it, it makes it easy to promote the balance of use, protection and conservation of our natural resources!

Having this hands on experience was a fun way to engage students. Photo by Danielle Trevino

Thank you NWF for helping teachers through this program. Everyone needs a little more green space!

About the Author: Elizabeth is originally from Montgomery, Alabama, and earned a B.S. in wildlife Science and a M.Ed. from Auburn University. She has worked at the Alabama Wildlife Federation since 2008 and currently serves as the Director of Education, although she also has served as Camp Director and Education programs Specialist in the past. One of her favorite parts of her job is taking children into nature, showing them the animals, plants, water and soil they don’t usually pay close attention to. A hands-on experience into the outdoors with a seasoned naturalist can make a world of difference in a child’s life.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/07/alabama-plants-trees-for-wildlife/feed/0North Carolina Plants Trees for Wildlifehttp://blog.nwf.org/2015/06/north-carolina-plants-trees-for-wildlife/
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/06/north-carolina-plants-trees-for-wildlife/#respondWed, 24 Jun 2015 18:15:44 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=107566When National Wildlife Federation offered affiliates, such as the North Carolina Wildlife Federation, FREE native trees right before the busy Earth Day month of April, I ordered one thousand, optimistic that I could find homes for them considering we had over 10 Earth Day events as well as school and community projects coming up. I ordered 250 each of wild black cherry, white flowering dogwood, white oak, and eastern redbud.

Tree seedlings. Photo from North Carolina Wildlife Federation

A bit later, boxes arrived for me on the front porch. I was stunned by their size. There were three boxes, each about a foot and a half tall and wide and six feet long. Slowly it occurred to me what could be in the boxes– one thousand trees.

Gathering my optimism, I opened the boxed, organized them into bunches and put my plan into motion. NWF already provided us with the planting instructions and pledge forms (when people sign a pledge form, they are more likely to actually plant the tree and take care of it). So, we began to create information sheets for each tree and laminated pictures of the trees to show folks what they would look like fully grown.

The trees we received arrived as young seedlings, ranging in size from 2 to 5 feet tall. Their size made transporting them easier, but did not set the most appealing stage for volunteers to agree to plant them and water them over the summer. We had several different responses such as “I will never live long enough to enjoy it” and “How big will this little guy get?”.

The trees went to every Earth Day event in the area, which included 4 different North Carolina cities. At some events, like the Lake Norman Spring Fling, we had our own tent and table just for giving away trees. The events were attended by over 15,000 people and some people even took two trees home!

Many people enjoyed receiving free trees to plant in their green spaces. Photo from North Carolina Wildlife Federation

Somehow, after all the busy events, we still had trees left. Luckily, Habitat Stewards came to the rescue. Habitat Stewards are trained to teach others in the community how to create habitat for wildlife by giving presentations, volunteering, writing articles for local media or restoring habitat in a public site. They helped us send trees by the dozens to schools, parks, municipalities, and more.

This had a huge impact for those involved and for the local environment and wildlife. We look forward to participating in more tree plantings!

About the Author: Christopher North is the Conservation Coordinator at the North Carolina Wildlife Federation.

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/06/north-carolina-plants-trees-for-wildlife/feed/0Missoula’s Clark Fork School Plants Trees for Wildlifehttp://blog.nwf.org/2015/06/missoulas-clark-fork-school-plants-trees-for-wildlife/
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/06/missoulas-clark-fork-school-plants-trees-for-wildlife/#respondTue, 23 Jun 2015 19:03:43 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=107355Missoula’s annual UnPlug and Play Week, hosted by Let’s Move! Missoula, aims to reconnect kids and their families with nature and outdoor activity. Working with National Wildlife Federation’s Missoula-based Wildlife Habitat and Sustainability Educator, AmeriCorps member Darcy McKinley Lester, teachers from the Clark Fork School (a Silver Award-winning NWF Eco-School) received a grant for trees through the National Wildlife Federation.

With this support, they led tree-focused crafts, like making a magic wand from downed twigs and branches, and handed out trees to families interested in improving the wildlife habitat at home.

Connecting with nature at the annual Unplug and Play community event. Photo from Clark Fork School

Over 300 people attended the event, and over 50 families adopted trees to plant at home, choosing from native Montana species including Ponderosa pine, white pine, bur oak, and white oak. Many families were interested in adopting an oak tree because they loved the idea of having a beautiful deciduous tree in their backyard, and they were also enticed by the thought of acorns! Other families were so excited to get a pine tree whose branches would one day shelter local birds and pollinators.

By the time the day was over, countless children were running around, completely unconnected from digital devices, enjoying playing in the nature that surrounded them.

Later that month, the Clark Fork School held their kindergarten graduation ceremony. To celebrate the students’ progress, each took home their very own tree to plant and care for—cementing the knowledge that trees truly are gifts, for both people and wildlife.

Have you ever seen this symbol on food, paper, plant, or cosmetic wrappers? Ever wondered what it meant? It is the symbol for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international, independent nonprofit organization that promotes environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests. During the 2015 National Conservation Achievement Awards Gala on May 14, National Wildlife Federation’s Organization Award will go to the Forest Stewardship Council.

The Forest Stewardship Council finds that forests, which cover approximately 30% of the earth, are home to about 70% of all terrestrial animals and plants making them important sources of food, shelter, and natural resources for people and wildlife. They also act as natural carbon sinks, storing 283 billion tons of carbon to help control climate change.

Unfortunately, deforestation is a worldwide problem as development and agriculture take precedence over the remaining forest area in many nations. The U.S. Forest Service estimated that 12 million acres of forest in the Southeast U.S. will be lost to suburban real estate development between 1992 and 2020, and forest destruction is the second leading cause of carbon pollution, causing 20% of total greenhouse gas emissions.

A redwood forest in California. Photo by Abby Barber

As consumers, we need to focus on buying and using items made from environmentally conscious companies, but with so many products on the market, we need help in identifying them. Since 1993, the Forest Stewardship Council has been helping consumers and businesses identify products from responsibly managed forests. FSC sets standards by which forests are certified, offering credible verification to people who are buying wood and wood products.

Discover more about FSC’s processes and successes during the presentation at the National Conservation Achievement Awards Gala and celebrate some of the incredible achievements they have made in the last several decades.

As of February 2015, 33.6 million acres of forest have been certified in the U.S. by the Forest Stewardship Council. Today, more than 40,000 American family forest owners are FSC certified. Saving forests now will not only help us, it will help the wildlife that need forests to survive. Wildlife species like songbirds, owls, bears, foxes, wild cats, and others rely on forests for a multitude of reasons. Many of the wildlife species that the National Wildlife Federation works to protect in the U.S. live in international forests for some part of the year, particularly birds and butterflies. Conservation efforts from leaders like the Forest Stewardship Council are necessary to preserve our nation’s and world’s forests.

Join NWF in honoring the Forest Stewardship Council at the National Conservation Achievement Awards (now famously known as the Connies), on May 14, 2015 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C and meet this amazing conservation organization team for yourself!

]]>http://blog.nwf.org/2015/04/conserving-our-forests-nwf-honors-the-forest-stewardship-council/feed/0Longleaf Pine Restoration Included in New Era of Conservationhttp://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/longleaf-pine-restoration-included-in-new-era-of-conservation/
http://blog.nwf.org/2015/01/longleaf-pine-restoration-included-in-new-era-of-conservation/#respondThu, 22 Jan 2015 14:51:42 +0000http://blog.nwf.org/?p=103299USDA made an announcement last week that will help NWF’s work on longleaf pine restoration in the southeast. Farm Bill funds will provide support to partners exploring the economics and incentives for increasing the acreage of sustainable, working forests on private lands in the southeast.

NWF Working to Protect Forests and Wildlife

NWF’s Southeast Forestry Program is dedicated to projects that protect and restore forests and wildlife habitats throughout the region, and longleaf pine restoration remains a keystone to our program and our affiliates. Since 2007, we have worked with the Alabama Wildlife Federation to plant, manage, and restore over 9,000 acres of longleaf pine forests on private lands. This program is important to us and the landowners we work with, as longleaf pine provides income through sustainable timber practices, recreational purposes (i.e. quality hunting habitat, bird watching), aesthetics as it is a beautiful ecosystem with a vibrant understory, and has meaningful cultural and intrinsic values to the southeast.

Longleaf Pine Forests Provide Excellent Wildlife Habitat

Longleaf pine forests provide an ideal habitat for wildlife due to the high level of biodiversity found in the ecosystem, as longleaf provides crucial components needed for wildlife survival such as food, water, cover and space. Wildlife species found in longleaf pine forests include the northern bobwhite quail, red-cockaded woodpeckers, gopher tortoises, striped newts, pinewoods treefrogs, pine and prairie warblers, eastern indigo snakes, Bachman’s sparrows, white-tailed deer, the Eastern wild turkey and many more. Twenty-nine species on the Federal threatened or endangered lists are found in these forests, however these pine forests are one of the most endangered landscapes in North America. Balancing economic, ecological and social values is crucial to restoration goals and is recognized by the federal government, private companies, and conservation organizations alike.

The Conservation Fund and Resource Management Service, LLC (RMS) were awarded a first-time partnership to create a 205,000 acre working, sustainable longleaf pine forest in the lower Alabama and Florida panhandle region. By keeping longleaf pine in privately-owned timber production, environmental and economic benefits will be made possible by establishing the first large landscape model for the conservation of longleaf pine. This project will enhance over 44 at-risk species’ habitat, restore approximately 150,000 acres of longleaf pine, protect water quality and quantity to the Gulf of Mexico, and at least 80 jobs will be retained. NWF’s Southeast Forestry Program provided a declaration of support for this project, as we have a vested interest the optimization of both economic and ecological benefits with longleaf restoration.

Focusing on Forests

I applaud the USDA in their inclusion of the longleaf pine range and the two projects selected as recipients of federal conservation funding, and hope to see additional programs and projects aimed at sustaining forest habitats such as longleaf pine funded in the future. Forest restoration and wildlife habitat are distinctly and highly integrated; the longleaf pine forest is an exemplary model of a species deserving of conservation efforts and initiatives underway to restore these forests and consequently, wildlife.